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Yeah, this is exactly what we'd want to do: Shell out a couple grand to get a MacBook Air for its sleek, minimalist design, then immediately send it off to get an atrocious custom job that would stick 8,000 Swarovski crystals on it for hundreds of dollars more, as seen on Engadget.

Moreover, as if the aesthetic offense weren't enough--and trust us, it is--this special treatment would reportedly add a half-pound to the Air's weight and 1/8th of an inch to its thickness, alterations that would seem to defeat the purpose of the ultra-thin laptop … Read more

If Sex and the City popularized the punishments of urban dating, IceBrkr, a London start-up, offers a chance to get through them less battered and bruised.

The Web site, designed to be accessed from desktops and mobile phones, keeps a guest list of IceBrkr members frequenting a select London hot spot, like pub, club, coffee shop, or bar on a given evening. Subscribing singles can spy who's coming, then send text messages to other guys and gals whose online pictures catch their fancy, and await a request to approach or to politely scram.

IceBrkr's free SMS method may … Read more

It's always nice to see a company making progress, and Mii Stor is no exception. The last time we visited with the company, it was offering a 4GB thumb drive for $19,000

Now, thanks to the advancement of technology, it has upgraded the line with a model dubbed "Ice" that has more capacity for about $29,000, according to Luxurylaunches--capacity for diamonds, that is, of which there are 456. (The previously cited "Snow" version had a mere 96 stones.) It's also made of platinum, as opposed to the low-rent 18k gold of its … Read more

A U.S. food chemist has come up with an edible antifreeze that promises to keep ice cream and other frozen foods from becoming damaged in the freezer. Srinivasan Damodaran, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the antifreeze, which is made from gelatin, can help ice cream stay smooth and maintain its "mouth feel."

The formation of ice crystals on ice cream, or what most folks call "freezer burn," is caused by fluctuations in temperature of the ice cream. Damodaran maintains that his antifreeze can help prevent such ice crystals from forming.

Read the … Read more

If you can't afford a media-laden ocean cruiser but still enjoy your music by (or in) the sea, here's a modest alternative.

Ego is coming out with a waterproof iPod case that, unlike countless other water-resistant models, includes a set of speakers that stays dry too. The "iceBar2" is an updated version of a case introduced last year to fit the latest Nano.

And unlike speakers that are meant for bathroom dwellers and the like, this one and its shatterproof polycarbonate case can be submerged in up to 3 meters of water, according to Coolest-Gadgets, which … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Warmth may not be an attribute you associate with a place where the sun doesn't shine in the winter and the sea freezes over, but all things are relative. And compared to earlier years, the Arctic was downright sweltering this year.

According to new research presented here at the the American Geophysical Union conference, the Arctic Ocean reached record high temperatures, arctic ice diminished to a record low, and ice melted on Greenland for a record number of days.

"In 2007, we had off-the-charts warming" of the Arctic Sea in the summer, said Mike Steele, an … Read more

Another iPod, another diamond--or 586 of them, to be exact. In this latest example of egregious excess, a company called Ice Forever will reportedly cover your Nano in 10.36 carats of diamonds set in 14k white gold.

But if you're worried about the cost, take heart: This is an after-market service, so you'll save money by having the bling job done on the iPod you already own, rather than having to pay the additional mark-up charged by the customizer. That will bring the cost down to a mere pittance of $12,495, according to BornRich.

Still, … Read more

For every elegant phone design it seems that there are hundreds of bad ones. If you have any doubt, just take a look at the prolific work of Crystal Icing.

Just as it did with the iPhone a few months ago, this bling service has victimized T-Mobile's Sidekick with a customized version that Luxist says is "covered in amber, 24k gold and dipped Swarovski crystals." The "Signature Limited Edition LUX Sidekick" even comes with its own cleaning kit, which probably isn't a bad idea by the looks of this heavily encrusted monstrosity. However, we'… Read more

Do you eat ice cream when you're sad? I sure do. When I saw that my nasty co-worker Tim Moynihan had pitted the Beer-Launching Fridge against Keepon the Dancing Robot in his artificial intelligence showdown, I got totally emo because I had no idea who to vote for. Then I bought myself a pint of Phish Food and ate it for breakfast with a side of Kleenex, sunny side down.

But technology is always making our lives easier, and here's a gadget that can help me figure out just how much self-pity eating I'll need to do … Read more